Expedition SYOC
by Lazersword88
Summary: 1880s Africa: In an era where cruel 'Adventurers' made fortunes on the misfortune of others, yet another steamboat ventures its way deep into the expanses of the Congo. However as these colonizers set off to subjugate a small African village and the village's residents attempt to defend it, they wake a bigger threat from its slumber. There are some places men should simply not go..


*Disclaimer: This story is my first Mature rated story for a reason. Due to nature of the time period explored (1880's African Colonization), some levels of inter-character racism and sexism is to be expected. Lazersword88 and RottoVoce do not condone any acts of racism or sexism in real life. Reader discretion is advised. You have been warned.*

Hello fellow HOTD SYOC enthusiasts, this is Lazersword88 here. If you're new to my stories or the HOTD fandom as a whole, I'd recommend you check out my current story Dead Delinquents or the story I started on, Dancing through Flames. If you are a past reader of mine, then I'm excited have you back.

It has been a very rewarding almost three years of writing SYOC stories on this site. However, in a little less than a year I will have completed my college education and I will begin working full time towards my career. Due to this uncertainty about my future of writing in this genre past this year, I have begun to enlist the help of several collaborators in order to get the stories I want to make done before next June.

Here to help me write the first of these SYOC projects is none other the RottoVoce, who in my opinion may be one of the most skilled and underrated of the HOTD SYOC genre's up and comers. However unlike my previous co-authors on some of my past stories, Rotto and I will each be penning half of the chapters in this story. Because of this, both Rotto and I can focus on other solo projects and still collaborate on this story. RottoVoce has already established him/herself as a master craftsman of story settings while I tend to specialize mostly in creating vivid characters. Through our partnership I hope we craft a story that is truly immersive and special. As a part of the this partnership, another one of my future SYOC short stories will be posted to Rotto's profile, so be sure to favorite and follow RottoVoce so you will see that future story too.

Now it's time for me to give you all a few more details about this story. Expedition will be set in Africa in the 1880's, a time rife with political intrigue, conquest, colonization and lust for power from European countries and explorers hungry for glory. This period is one of the most interesting and least talked about periods in human history and I thought it would be an interesting time to visit in an undead story. This historical fiction is loosely inspired by the historical novels King Leopold's Ghost (a good albeit dry read) and Things Fall Apart, but due to the rules of this site there will be no direct reference or inclusion of any historical figures or events directly.

As for the exact details of the story, this story will have a 10 chapter length with Rotto writing the odd chapters (not counting this introduction) and I will be writing the even numbered chapters. In addition to this, we will only be accepting 8 to 10 characters into this story or less should the quality of the characters we receive not be sufficient enough to include that many. Approximately half of the cast will be from a small tribe deep within the Congo while the other half of the cast will be from a small vessel sent by Belgium with aims to colonize the Congo region and enslave its inhabitants. In accordance with the HOTD fandom's general restrictions, at least one member from the African village must be getting schooled in some way. However that education doesn't exactly have to equate to what is generally taught in high school. As is standard with most of my stories, there will be OC death. As a general rule of thumb, thirty to fifty percent of accepted characters usually die along the way but never more than one per chapter. Each chapter for this story will be more or less five thousand words, the goal being to make the story concise and polished.

Because of this difference in time period, the usual characters that you submit to several SYOC stories will need to be significantly adjusted or thrown out altogether for this story. Not only will your character need a reason why they either live in the village or are on the expedition ship, but I would also like for you to include information about the character's motivations.

Likewise, there will be restrictions on weaponry for this story. Here are the types of weapons that you may use for your characters:

-Any melee weapon up to or including weapons made from steel or weaker materials.

-Traditional African tribal weapons.

-Weapons improvised from the natural surroundings or made by natural means.

-Bows and arrows.

-Single shot pistols, hidden pistols, revolvers (experienced naval crewman only such as captains), blunderbusses, primitive pump action shotguns (prone to malfunction), muskets, primitive bolt action rifles, primitive carbine rifles, primitive low capacity semi-automatic rifles.

Any other weapon must have information proving its existence in the 1880's and be given the green light both Rotto and I. In my past stories I have made firearms plot contextual due to them being overpowered if given to characters in the same manner as melee weapons. However in this story I will try to incorporate guns in a balanced fashion. While guns can have their perks, there will be a multitude of risks associated with their use in this story in order to compensate.

Now on to the application itself. As easy as it is to just copy and paste the information submitted for past application (I should know as I am often guilty of this due to having little time), I would like you to fill out this application specifically for this story. There are major differences between my applications and most other because I rely on statistics over descriptions to determine the abilities of in story characters. In doing so I ensure that all characters are balanced.

In order for a character to be accepted into the story, he must first be approved by me and then be approved by RottoVoce. Please submit the characters as PMs to me or as reviews on this chapter. If you wish to borrow this application, please PM me with your intentions and be sure to credit me in the chapter where the application is used.

Here is the application:

Character Details:

Name:

Faction: (Colonizers or Villagers)

Gender:

Sexuality:

Age:

Height:

Weight:

Ethnicity:

Build: (Please describe the character's condition and body build in 3-5 sentences. Be sure to mention hair color/style, eye color, female characteristics (if female) or anything else that helps us visualize the character)

Position within Faction:

Motivations: (What drives the character? Please think this portion through carefully)

Personality: (Please go into depth. 10 sentences or more)

Backstory: (Keep it concise. Focus on the most important events in the character's life thus far)

Likes:

Dislikes:

What do they look for in an ally or friend?:

What do they look for in a love interest?:

Weapon of Choice:

Emergency/Secondary Weapon:

Fighting Style/Strategy: (How does your character approach combat? What fighting styles do they know if any? Be sure to go deeply in depth here)

Character Statistics:

Please allocate the allotted 100 skill points between the twenty stats provided (an average of 5 points per stat). Keep in mind that if your character has more than 100 total points they will not be accepted until the points are rebalanced and if your character has less than 100 points then they will most likely be one of the first characters to die. By assigning 7 or more points to a skill your character will gain an additional passive perk or skill that they can employ in certain situations. Be sure to deeply consider how the perks you assign to your characters line up with the character's fighting style, as it will determine the chances of your character's survival. Please replace the question mark and perk description with your intended perk value when you submit your application.

Total Skill Points: 100

Offense:

Strength: ?/10. Influences physical attack damage and how heavy the gear/weapon/armor they wear can be. 7 or more is required for very heavy loadouts.

Speed/Agility: ?/10. Self-explanatory. 7 or more grants the character the ability to get up quickly when knocked down.

Dexterity/Coordination: ?/10. The characters flexibility and balance. 7+ allows for two weapons that are one handed to be wielded simultaneously.

Skill: ?/10. A character's familiarity with combat and their own weaponry. 7 or more grants the character an attack that launches their foe into the air, leading to possible juggle or team combos.

Awareness: ?/10. The character's ability to evaluate changing situations on the battlefield and take advantage of outside factors. 7 or more means the character has increased rear perception, lessening the chance they will be caught by surprise by an attack from behind.

Parkour: ?/10. Self-explanatory. 7 or more increases injury resistance from non-battle means.

Defense:

Toughness/Health: ?/10. How many hits a character can live through. 7 or more gives the character a super armored state on their attacks, meaning the first attack that hits them will not make them flinch while the character flinch while attacking.

Block: ?/10. Block is the middle option in terms of defense, able to counter projectiles and physical strikes but not able to redirect any retribution towards the attacker. The user must have a shield, heavy melee weapon or armor to block. 7 or more allows the character to use an armor bash attacks, which can stun opponents.

Dodge: ?/10. Can avoid projectiles untouched, but not good against close range melee strikes. 7 or more gives the character a dodging roll to escape danger.

Parry: ?/10. Allows characters to block and redirect melee strikes with their blade. Not good against projectiles. 7 or more allows perfectly executed parries to stagger opponents and leave them open to an attack.

Elusiveness/Stealth: ?/10. Makes characters harder for zombies to catch and harder to shoot with firearms from a distance. 7 or more allows the character to stealthily approach others with greater skill, given they haven't already been spotted.

Stamina: ?/10. How long a character can perform at their peak potential and strain. 7 or more grants near unlimited access to character's parkour and defensive moves.

Ranged:

Vision: ?/10. How acute a character's vision is. 7 or more allows for better vision at night.

Accuracy:? accurate a character is with a projectile weapon, with each point representing a 10% chance of the target being successfully hit. 7 or more allows the character to better compensate for gravity on long ranged shots.

Operation Speed: ?/10. How quickly the character can cycle their ranged weapon or reload. 7 or more allows the character quicker drawing times for their ranged weapons.

Non-Combat:

Leadership/Teamwork: ?/10. How well the character works with others. 7 or more makes your character a leader amongst their group, able to command those with 5 or more.

Luck/Scavenging: ?/10. How often the character finds what they need, when they need it. 7 or more grants the character the ability to more frequently find weapons and ammunition.

Recovery: ?/10. How much of a characters health do they gain back after every day. 7 or more grants the ability for one character to share their recovery with another character that they are personally connected to.

Creativity: ?/10. Your character's inventive, strategic and puzzle solving skills. 7 or more allows for weapon crafting.

Charisma: ?/10. How much your character is trusted by the others and is relatable to them. Also helps in forming friendships and having conversations. 7 or more will guarantee that the character will be romantically involved with someone during their lifetime in the story.

*End of Application*

Rotto has already come up with a character for this story and I will also be creating a character for this story. However I will wait until I see the characters that are submitted before I create my character for the story. I'm excited to see how creative everyone can be with their characters! You can find a copy of the application portion of this introduction on my profile page. Expect the first chapter of this story to go up in early to mid-July and the second to be realized before the end of July.

With all of this out of the way, this is Lazersword88 signing off. And remember, luck favors the adventurous!


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